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Committee welcomes bigger role for judges in authorising spying on public Internet use.
A group of U.K. ministers examining the government’s proposed surveillance bill said on Thursday that more needs to be done to justify the powers it will give to law enforcement.
"There is much to be commended in the draft bill," said joint committee chairman, Lord Paul Murphy, in a statement. However, he said the U.K.’s interior ministry, the Home Office, "has a significant amount of further work to do before Parliament can be confident that the provisions have been fully thought through."
Unveiled in November, the draft Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB) would enable security and intelligence agencies to order ISPs to collect and retain records of Internet services that a specific device connects to, such as a Website or instant messaging application. Records would have to be stored for 12 months.
The bill also proposes allowing the use of these powers in bulk to establish links between suspected criminals in the U.K., and to identify threats originating from outside the country.
The IPB would also make it legal for authorities to hack into computers and smartphones in order to monitor encrypted communications.
To ensure the IPB is wielded responsibly, the government proposed a ‘double-lock’ for interception warrants, which means they cannot be enforced without authorisation from both the Secretary of State and a judge. The government also plans to appoint an Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC), a senior judge who will oversee how the powers are used.
"The creation of a new judicial oversight body and the much greater involvement of judges in the authorisation of warrants allowing for intrusive activities are both to be welcomed," Murphy said.
However, he noted that when it comes to ordering ISPs to retain Internet data, "the cost and other practical implications are still being worked out."
The joint committee urged the government to make a stronger case for retaining Internet connection records. It said further justification is also needed for the bulk powers element of the IPB.
In addition, the committee called for another committee to be formed five years after the bill is enacted in order to review how it is operating.
